Part III k: DNIS Pay-Per-Call Rates

If you are enabled for this feature you can have the voice program speak the time and dollars accrued on a call. You must be using a T-1 or E-1 trunk that provides you with DNIS information. DNIS refers to the number your customer dialed to reach you. T-1 will be used for the remainder of the documentation, but the same information will hold true on an E-1.

This feature is basically for use with 900 numbers. Some 900 numbers require that you tell the caller how long they have been on the call and how  much that call has cost them. They can then press a key to continue the call. If they do not press a key, the program will disconnect the call.

This new feature will also allow the caller to hear the amount of time they have been on a call and the cost of  billing a call rate based on the DNIS.

Incoming calls on T-1 and E-1 trunks will show up on random lines on your Line Status screen, so you will not be able to speak different billing information on different line. You can, however, speak different billing rates by DNIS.

 The billing will use the rates you set up under "Maintain, then "DNIS Pay-Per-Call Rates". Each DNIS can have a different billing rate. The billing is open-ended and will continue to bill indefinitely for the length of the call. The call may come into your system on any line, but we will always know the DNIS if your phone company provides it.

NO ACCOUNT WILL ACTUALLY BE BILLED OR DECREMENTED IN ANY WAY.

This is basically for 900 numbers, where the phone company is doing the actual billing to the caller's phone number. However, in some areas you may need to alert the caller to the amount of time on the call, and the dollar amount they have spent so far. The system will interrupt the caller at any point except if the are connected one on one in the FoneBar, or if they are in any type of recording mode. 

The interval of interruption is set in the \winnt\stplus.ini file under the [Main] section. Add these lines: 

DoGlobalTime=yes               ;turn feature on/off (yes or no)

SpeakGlobalTime=300            ;interval in seconds to speak to caller

The DoGlobalTime parameter turns the feature on and off.  The SpeakGlobalTime parameter determines the interval in SECONDS that the system will interrupt  the caller and give them a tally of how long they have been on and how much money they have spent. The system will then ask the caller 'to continue press 1 or the line will disconnect'. If you want the call to be terminated after x minutes, regardless of billing amount (this will help keep your return costs down), you can set the 'max time on call' under Maintain, Switch, then double click on each individual DNIS number or line (if you do nothing else by DNIS - that is, you want all lines to behave the same), then Technical Info. Check the 'use maximum time for a call (Mins) and enter the number of minutes next to it. 

If you do not add DNIS listings under Maintain, Switch, then each line will act as you have entered information for each line. If you want lines to behave differently according to the DNIS number dialed, then you need to add the DNIS numbers there. Then double click on each entry for the detailed setup. When these are setup and a call comes in with a matching DNIS line information setting, then the Line Info setting is ignored and the DNIS details will be in force.

The system WILL NOT DISCONNECT UPON REACHING THIS TIME - it will simply send the caller to the box you designate under 'if maximum time, goto'. If you want the call to disconnect, enter the letter 'H' for Phantom Hangup in this field.

Under Maintain, DNIS Pay-Per-Call Rates, click on Add to begin entering your billing rates. The name can be anything that will help you remember the purpose of a given DNIS rate. In the DNIS digits area, most people will only use the 'phone number' field. Enter the DNIS number here as your T-1 system receives it. In the next section you will define the actual billing amount. Many 900 numbers want the callers to have a grace period - in case the number was dialed in error. This is typically approximately 10-20 seconds. The actual timing of the call will begin AFTER the grace period.

You would have an initial access box that says something like "You have reached a 900 number. This call will be billed to the number you are now calling from at the rate  x dollars per minute. Billing will begin in 5 seconds. If you do not wish to be billed, hang up now. Press 1 to continue."

Your initial access box tweaks should be set to max loop 1 and the box should have error routing and default routing set to 'H' for hangup. You can have the digit 1 go to your application main menu access box, so your callers can make their choices. Enter the number of seconds of your grace period (under the DNIS pay-per-call Rates) to coincide with the length of your initial access box greeting, so that when the person presses the 1, timing will begin. This actual time of this grace period will probably be dictated by your phone company.